Methods for supporting a driver of a motor vehicle during a driving maneuver are, for example, methods that support the driver during a parking operation. In the case of currently known methods, the location and orientation of a parking space relative to the vehicle are determined when driving past a parking space via distance sensors attached to the side of the vehicle. A suitable trajectory along which the vehicle may be moved into the parking space is then calculated. At the start of the parking operation, a control unit activates the vehicle steering in such a way that the steering wheel turns as the vehicle moves without operation by the driver to guide the vehicle into the parking space. The control unit thus takes over the lateral guidance of the vehicle. During the parking operation, the driver is responsible for operating the accelerator, the brake and the clutch, if applicable, to brake or accelerate the vehicle as needed. This means that the driver is responsible for the longitudinal guidance of the vehicle.
In addition to such semi-automatic systems, fully automatic systems in which the longitudinal guidance of the vehicle is also taken over by a control unit are known. A differentiation is made between systems in which the driver is not supposed to operate any pedals and the speed is regulated without action by the driver. Operation of a pedal by the driver is interpreted as the driver's intent to regain control.
Also known are methods in which the driver still operates the pedals but the maximum achievable speed during the parking operation is continuously decreased as a function of the position so that the speed of 0 is achieved upon reaching the boundaries of the parking space. In this case, the driver may continuously operate the accelerator to indicate to the system that he is still in control while the vehicle automatically slows until it automatically stops upon reaching the boundary of the parking space.
Methods for semi-autonomous or autonomous driving of a motor vehicle, as may be used for parking in a parking space, are discussed in DE A 10 2009 010 006, for example. It is also known that the system may be overridden by actions of the driver so that control is returned to the driver as a result of the override.
However, a disadvantage of the known methods is, for example, that operation of the accelerator by the driver may result in excessive acceleration of the vehicle, possibly causing a collision with an object bordering the parking space, depending on the orientation of the vehicle. To prevent this, it is known, for example, that the brake pedal must be operated before the driver may perform the longitudinal guidance. By requiring operation of the brake pedal, it is ensured that the driver's foot is not on the accelerator during the control transfer, thus preventing abrupt acceleration. However, if quick acceleration is required, for example in the case of a lateral approach of a vehicle, the driver will first attempt to operate the accelerator to accelerate the vehicle before remembering that the brake must first be operated to allow vehicle acceleration. This behavior is generally found to be unnatural or unacceptable.